Ray Rice, victim's mom push for cyberbullying bill to pass

Bill would charge offenders with misdemeanor punishable by fine or year in prison

UPDATED 7:32 AM EST Mar 08, 2013

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -

Maryland lawmakers were joined Thursday by the mother of a cyberbullying victim and -- in spirit -- by Ravens running back Ray Rice in their push to pass the Cyberbullying Prevention Act.

Introduced by Baltimore County Delegate Jon Cardin, House Bill 396 would prohibit the online posting of "true threats that cause a minor to live in fear of his or her safety" and the posting of false or private information of a minor that, if publicized, would be highly offensive to a reasonable person. The bill would also prohibit someone from inciting someone else to harm a minor.

Christine McComas, the mother of Grace McComas, a 15-year-old Howard County girl who killed herself last year, gave gripping testimony at the hearing in her push for the bill's passage.

"I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate you. I hope you somehow see this and cry yourself to sleep, and then kill yourself," McComas read during testimony from tweets sent to her daughter shortly before she killed herself.

Her family said her suicide was caused by cyberbullying.

"Quite frankly, it should be a crime, and I'm hoping this House bill will help reduce the struggle for families and children that have run into it before," McComas said.

This week, Rice sent a written statement to legislators in support of the bill. He asked 11 Sports' Keith Mills to read it on the floor.

"This bill that is asking for criminal charges to be brought up against cyberbullying is very close to Ray. He feels this is an incredibly important step to eliminating this problem," Mills said afterward.

The bill would punish those who break the law by charging them with a misdemeanor. If found guilty of that charge, the person could get a year in prison, a $500 fine or both.

"My goal is not to criminalize this. My goal is not to make children face serious penalties. It's to get people to be sensitive to the vulnerabilities of others," Cardin said.

Current law only addresses bullying by text or private messaging. This bill expands it to include public posts on social media, where everyone can read what's being said.

"The First Amendment lets you be mean. It lets you be caustic, and it lets you be involved in public debate; however, at the same time, it does not let you do certain things to harm children," said University of Baltimore law professor Michael Meyerson during testimony.

McComas said she's hoping this bill will hold more teens accountable.

"No one was able to really help us or understand what we were going through or even make (the boy who sent the tweets) accountable for his words or apologize, and I think it could have made a difference," McComas said.

The ACLU of Maryland reportedly said the bill violates the First and Fifth amendments. One delegate told 11 News that the issue is better suited for civil, not criminal, law.

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